Shepherds that Preach Part 1

About this sermon

Introduction: In seminaries all over there are courses taught on preaching. In those same seminaries there are courses taught on practical pastoral ministry. What is not taught often enough is the connection between those two things — preaching and pastoral care. When preaching is taught, the emphasis is often on mechanics. The nuts and bolts of what goes into interpreting a text and communicating a text is most often the focus. When pastoral care is taught, the emphasis is often on practical wisdom matters as it relates to encouraging people or comforting people or looking to the needs of people. How to carry out formal aspects of pastoral ministry such as weddings, funerals, leading the Lord’s Supper, things like that. But what is not taught often enough is that both things require the same kind of man. What’s not taught often enough is that the work of preaching is a subset of the larger work of shepherding. That’s what I want to emphasize today. I wish to make clear from God’s Word that God designed for preaching to be done by shepherds. There are a variety of analogies that are used in the New Testament to describe the work of ministry — including preaching. Analogies were chosen that depict courage, and patience, and diligence, and discipline. The ministry is compared to the efforts of a farmer, an athlete, a boxer, a soldier, a father or mother (Paul described his care for the church as one like a nursing mother). ESV 1 Thessalonians 2:6 aNor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, bthough we could have made cdemands as dapostles of Christ. 7 But we were agentle1 among you, blike a nursing mother taking care of her own children. But the one analogy that used most often, and the one that all these other analogies serve in the interest of, is the analogy of a shepherd. This is what pastors are. In fact, that’s the meaning of the word pastor. It’s the Greek word ποιμήν and it just means “shepherd.” Right away, that rules out a whole host of ministry distortions. WHEN YOU REALIZE THAT PASTORS ARE SHEPHERDS THEN YOU REALIZE WHAT THEY ARE NOT. We are not academics. Striving for and receiving the accolades of the academic community. I do NOT mean, of course, that pastors don’t prepare academically. I just mean that we never measure our work by the respect of academicians, nor are we striving for acceptance in that realm. We are not business managers in a corporation. We are not entertainers. We are not philosophers, sages, that counsel people with our own wisdom. We are not social activists. We are not social workers who simply go around helping people materially or comforting them emotionally. When you understand the shepherding analogy, and the other NT analogies that join that analogy, you will begin to LEARN FROM GOD, what God means for a pastor to be. AND THIS IS VITAL.